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Showing posts with label Dina. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dina. Show all posts

Monday, March 26, 2012

My Last Haircut of the Year

Last weekend we went to my parent's house. We haven't been back in a while due to work and study commitments plus my nephew had been diagnosed with HFM (hand, foot and mouth disease) and was recuperating at my mom's place so I refused to take the kids there.

Since En Rashid had badminton on Friday night, we decided to go on Saturday. The whole day was basically spent catching up on stuff and playing cards with my parents. I won, hahahha...despite my dad's futile attempts to play dirty.

On Sunday, my mom took us (me and the girls) out for our haircut. The nearest shop was close so we decided to head to Subang.


This is Dina and Daria before their haircut.

Dina getting her haircut. When I asked the amoi how much it would cost to cut her hair, she said RM10. I bargained saying that Dina only needed her fringe cut. So the amoi charged us RM5 instead.

Daria getting anxious; do I have to cut my hair, ibu? Daria's hair is a nightmare in the sense, I could cut her hair today and next week it would be full and thick again. I asked the amoi to thin out Daria's hair at the back and make it short in front. Short enough that I didn't have to take her for a haircut for at least another month.
OK, this part I don't understand. It's not like she hasn't had a haircut before but Daria just lost it yesterday. She started crying, complete with tears running down her face, causing all of her hair to stick to her face. It took a lollipop to calm her down, even then she insisted in me holding her hand.

Here are the girls after their haircut. Not much difference actually because Dania and Dina only cut their fringe.

I got my hair cut also yesterday. Pretty dramatic one if you ask me.
On a good hair day, this is what I look like.....
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Hah!! But seriously...it CAN look that good.
On a bad hair day, this is what I look like.
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Yes...I look like a boy. Sigh....

Sunday, March 25, 2012

Snippets of the Past 2 Weeks

OMG...sorry folks..I promised a few people I would update on what's been happening at Casa Along but alas, some urgent matters need to be taken care off first. I'll just list down a few stuff as a teaser..promise, I'll write in full really soon.

1. Our train ride into KL. A great way for some family bonding and to tire out the kids real fast. Haha.
2. Dania and Dina's Bijak Sifir workshop
3. Our maid problem. Like...urghhh...seriously.
4. Work stuff...went through hell but hopefully everything will turn out fine. Oya, had to postpone my International Marketing mid term because of work...sigh..

Till then, stay chill my fellow peeps.

Friday, February 03, 2012

All Down For The Count

All three of my babies are sick. Boohoo! It started actually with Daria, we suspect she got food poisoning from the drink we bought at the night market. Actually it was more of the ice cubes that she chewed on, must have been made from unfiltered water.

So anyway, this was actually last week and for almost a week, she was vomiting and had diarrhea. Then as Daria was getting better, Dania got sick and started getting the same symptoms. She came back from school on Tuesday, complaining about a stomach ache. That night, she started vomiting and having the runs. So far, she's missed 4 days of school.

Last Wednesday night, Dina started vomiting. I was getting really worried, especially since Daria was just getting better. So on Thursday morning, both En Rashid and myself took the girls to the hospital.


Both Dania and Dina had to be put on a drip because they were vomiting excessively. They cried a bit when the nurse placed in the needle but only because their veins were so shrunk from the dehydration. But after a bottle of saline, they both felt better. Fortunately the doctor said that they could be released and stay at home, instead of being admitted into the wards.

As of today, Dania about 90% better. She still has the runs but she hasn't vomited since yesterday. Dina vomited twice today but I think it's due to the powder medication she has to take. So I've stopped that for now and tried to get her to drink chocolate milk instead.

Here's hoping my babies get well soon.

Wednesday, January 04, 2012

1st Day of School

Today I took leave since it was Dania's and Dina's first day of school. Normally, I wouldn't be too worried but since Dania was now in Standard 4 and Dina in Standard 2, that meant they had different schedules and wouldn't be going to the same school at the same time anymore.

I had booked the van for them since early December but I was still worried that there would be hiccups in terms of getting the kids to and from school on time. Fortunately the van lady, whom we had used last year, was rather efficient. She admitted that the first day was a matter of getting used to the routes of picking and sending back the kids. But in the end, the girls got to both schools on time and were back home when they were suppose to be.

I asked Dina if she missed seeing her sister at school and she laughed. Hah!! I guess it's true, distance does make the heart fonder.

Saturday, October 29, 2011

Quick Getaway

The clan is back from a quick getaway on PD. It was a last minute decision to go. I was basically having it up to here with work (pointing to my delicate nose) and the kids were getting restless with one week of holiday and nowhere to go.

My boss had been talking about the Legend Waterhomes ever since she took her kids there. So in the end, I decided to try it out and booked their 3 days 2 nights package. I booked the hotel that had the private swimming pool in the room because knowing En Rashid and myself, we would be taichi'ing each other to go take the kids to the public swimming pool.

Since PD is only 1 hours drive from BBB, we had lunch at home first. I had some errands to do that morning so it was after 3pm when we finally set off for PD. We arrived around 415pm, a bit late because someone was going the wrong way. And had a faulty GPS. And wouldn't let me call the hotel for directions.

Once we had arrived, check-in was a breeze. We had one of the rooms that was overlooking the seabed. The girls immediately noticed the floor "window" as we walked into the room.

Daria was a bit comprehensive of the window. She refused to step on it at first since she thought she might fall through it. She even yelled if any of us stepped on the window accidentally. Hahaha, so cute.

But the main attraction was of course, the in-room swimming pool. The girls shrieked (I use the word appropriately) with joy when they say it. Immediately, they changed into their swimming gear and plunged in.
The 3 of them practically became mermaids in the pool and would have stayed in there for hours. We finally dragged them all out when it was time to get ready for dinner.

Since the package only included one dinner meal and we were still rather full from lunch, we decided to head out instead. It was drizzling but luckily the hotel provided each room with a mighty big umbrella so we didn't get that wet as we walked to the hotel lobby.

We took our chance with the first OK looking restaurant we saw. It turned out not be such a bad choice. The kids had fried mee, which they didn't finish because according to them, it was too spicy. And I had specifically requested for it not to be spicy. However, hubby and I had a good meal; white rice with mixed tomyam, siakap cooked 3 rasa and kangkung masak belacan. Adding in all the drinks and what not, it came to about RM44.

Eventhough it had stopped raining, the kids were too tired out to do anymore swimming. So after watching a bit of TV, they fell asleep pretty quickly.
Look at who conquered most of the bed (it was a King bed). Ambik ko, terkangkang terus!!

The next day, the kids were raring to go swimming again. However, En Rashid and I wanted to go get breakfast first, so we made some sandwiches for Dania and Dina and took Daria for breakfast at the hotel. OK, before you ask, the package only included breakfast for two. Kids (ages 4-12) cost RM37.75 per head for breakfast. And knowing Dina, she would only eat one bowl of cereal and a glass of juice and that would be it. It would have chapped my ass if I were to pay that amount for a bowl of cereal!!

So we left the room for breakfast but took the fat crapper with us (Min, I can't stop calling her that!). I must say the breakfast spread was quite disappointing. For starters, no nasi lemak. They only had porridge which is basically hospital food, so yucks! They had a good salad bar though and made a mean omelet. I liked the omelet!
Good omelet!

Daria had some sausages and potato wedges. here she is thoroughly enjoying her cold, cup of guava juice.
They had special plates and cups for children, which I though was pretty smart.
One of the two buffet counters. Daria kept on asking me to bring back the big boat on display.
Hah, no longer afraid!!
Low tide in the morning. Where's all the water, ibu? And the fishies??

Nevermind, while waiting for the fishies to come back, I'll just do some painting over here. An elephant is purple, right ibu?

It rained mostly during the day so we didn't do much. Watched TV, played games, slept. Since it was a Friday, En Rashid went out for prayers and brought back lunch. This was also Dania and Dina's dinner later in the evening. Don't judge!! They were fine with it.

The dinner buffet was slightly better. They had sate, curry mee and white rice with various dishes. I liked the peanut sauce that came with the sate. Also the curry mee was no bad. En Rashid became a fan of chocolate covered fruits, thanks to thw\e chocolate fountain they had. Oya, the chocolate they used was dark chocolate, so yummy!!!
Someone sure is enjoying her ice cream!!
It took 10 shots before I finally got one of her licking her ice cream. Hahaha, thank god for digital cameras.
En Rashid, full and NOT thinking about work. I hope.

The next day was check-out day. The girls woke up extra early so they could squeeze in as much swimming time as possible. We took them to the outdoor pool, so that they could swim while we had breakfast at the pool cafe.
The hotel had 2 pools; one for the kids with slides and all that and another for adults.I must say the hotel took great pride in their facilities, everything was kept nice and clean.
A reluctant look given when asked to leave the pool. Nevermind adik, we'll come back again soon.
Here's the room we stayed in. Ignore the mess. The beds were super comfy and the pillow super plushy.
From the bedroom, you go through the kitchen to the bathrooms. The kitchen had a microwave and plates and utensils. The bathroom was split between the toilet and shower room. The sliding door you see opens up to the in-door swimming pool.
The buggies that took hotel guests to and from the hotel lobby to their rooms. Mighty useful especially if its raining or when you want to check-out with your bags of crap.
Tired but happy. The girls really enjoyed themselves so I would say the quick getaway was just what we all needed.

Now, it's back to the real world. Next week is mid terms!! Argghhhh...plus finals for the kid's kafa school.

Sunday, October 16, 2011

Dina's 7th Birthday Bash

I better write about this before it becomes stale. We had the birthday bash last Saturday at home. It was a small occasion, we invited only a few of Dina's friends and classmates. After much deliberation, we decided on a theme...

ANGRY BIRDS!!!!

Did you make the bird sound when you read that? Hahaha..

We set the party to start at around 11am and end at 2pm. I figured 3 hours of having a house full of hyper kids was enough.
The first activity lined up was a coloring activity. I had printed out several pictures of the angry birds (and some pigs) and pasted them onto manila card boards. I also had several small angry bird pictures the kids could paste onto their finished product. I made sure there were enough crayons and color pencils to go around. This activity was great because it kept the kids in one section of the living room, relatively quiet. Heee.

Then it was cake time. We had to wait for my brother and SIL to arrive as I had asked Aida to pass the cake to them.
The cake was a hit with the kids! And Dina was so happy. Everyone ooohh'ed and ahhh'ed at the small birds and pigs, complete with slings and tiny bird eggs to go.
A picture together before everyone sang Happy Birthday. That dude on the far left is my 3 month old nephew. How cute is he?? Oya, those angry bird t-shirts the girls are wearing was bought that morning. Hahahha..last minute purchase from the shop across the road. Sib baik ada.
This picture was taken and edited by my brother using his iPhone. I love it coz it looks like a sketch. Also Daria looks extra chubby in this photo..haha.

Daria the Destroyer messed up the cake before we could stop her. Luckily she only messed up the letters and not the cake itself.
The kids were all trying to "book" a bird to eat. Hahaha..I told them to share, the birds were made out of pure sugar!! The last thing I need is more hyper kids in the house.
Everyone have cake!!
Here's Min with her 2 nieces (pink dresses). She was only one of the two adults who stayed throughout the party. The rest just dropped off their kids at the gate. She was suppose to come as General Pig but her pig snout paper mache project became an epic fail. Reluctantly, I let her stay for cake. :P

After cake, was a game I called "Kill the Water Bottle Pigs". Basically I had printed out pictures of the free pig and taped them to a few empty water bottles. The kids had to try to knock all of the "pigs" down using the angry bird plush toys I had bought for the party.
A simple game but the kids had a blast! It looked easy but was a bit tough for the smaller kids. In the end, we lumped all the water bottles close together, to make sure everyone had a chance to "kill" all of the pigs. I gave out angry bird erasers as prizes for those who succeeded.
The games were only meant for the kids but apparently someone didn't get the memo. Siap tak bagi budak potong line tu..sabar je la. Hahhaha..
Early signs of too much sugar in her system. Huaarrggghhhhhh!!!
Once everyone had succeeded in winning an eraser, we moved on to opening the presents. Dina got a lot of really cool stuff. Lots of stationary and color pencils to last her a lifetime. Hahaha.
Around 1.30pm, the party started to wind down. I gave each kid a helium balloon to take back home.
Together with a party pack. Each kid got an angry bird stationary set, an angry bird notebook and a lollipop.
While waiting for the parents to come, Dina and her friends took some pictures outside, with the plush toys.
My girls. Sigh...they're growing up way too fast.
Menu-wise, I kept it simple. Bihun with egss, nuggets, egg sandwiches, multicolored jellies and cake. For drinks, I made punch. I bought some colorful plastic cups (red and yellow) to tie in the angry bird theme.

We played a few more games since some parents were a bit late in picking up their kids. We played "Put the Birds Back in their Nest". Basically I took the box the cake came in and asked the kids to try and throw the plush toys into it. Anyone who could get at least 2 birds into the box got an extra lollipop. After that, we played "Bomber Angry Bird" which was a varied version of Pass the Ball. I used my iPad to play the Angry Bird theme song as the music for the game.

All in all, the party was a success. The kids had fun, the adults got to eat in peace and Dina was very, very happy. Here's to another birthday party next year..well, maybe.
ANGRY BIRDS!!!!

Monday, October 10, 2011

Last Weekend...

Well, the Westlife concert was fun. Despite the fact I knew and could sing along to only 3 of their songs. They have a new album?! Sigh...so not up to date. Anyway, thanks to Noresh for dragging me there. Was a nice change of pace for me.

On Saturday, we had Dina's birthday party. And I'm happy to report that everything went fine!! In fact, the kids had so much fun, doing the coloring activity, playing the "kill the pigs" game, the "send the birds home" game and the "bomber bird" game. Oh, and they lorrvvveeeed the cake!! Thanks to Aida for all her hard work. And thanks to all those that came. Dina was grinning ear to ear the whole time, she was very happy to say the least.

I have pictures and videos for all of the above but will have to wait until later to upload. Work-a-calling!!

Tuesday, October 04, 2011

A Full Week..

Yesterday: Sent off my parents for Haj. Uwwaaaa....they'll be gone for 45 days. I miss them already!! My mom was showing me where she kept all her jewelry and stuff, in case they don't come back and I was like "I don't care about your jewelry!! Wadda ya mean you might not come back??!!!"
UWWWAAAAA!!!!

Today: Dimsum dinner date with hubby. We bought the coupon via Groupon since FOREVER but only now have the time to redeem it. I hope it's worth it. Hubby's a dimsum freak so he's looking forward to the meal. I'll reserve my opinion until later.

Tomorrow: I have class and tons to read up on still.

Thursday: Assignment #2 due! Haven't started a thing yet but they say procrastinators always churn out the best work when they're stressed. Muahahahhaa,..

Friday: I'm going to see Westlife!! Wuuhuuu!! I haven't been to a cencert since FOREVER. Must brush up on my Westlife lyrics...nanti dapat nyanyi setakat chorus je.

Saturday: Dina's birthday party!! Have bought some stuff for decorations and goody bags but still need to do the invitation cards and other stuff.

Sunday: Really need to concentrate on studying!! 1st SM exam is the following week. Mati la, satu haprak pun tak prepare lagi!!

Monday, October 03, 2011

Time To Start Planning

We've decided on a theme for Dina's birthday party. Since we intend to keep it small (just invite her friends selected classmates), I intend to make it a bit more memorable in terms of decorations, games and party gifts. Thing is.....do I have the time?!!

I've been surfing sites all day collecting ideas. I would really love to have (make?) a pinata but I seriously doubt my creative talent in that area. I'm keeping the food simple because kids do not come to parties to eat. Hahhaha...but I'll have something for the adults, just in case the parents would like to stop by.

Dina's been looking forward to her party for months so I really hope everything goes as planned and that she'll have a great time celebrating with family and friends.

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Ideas for Dina's Birthday Party

I’m trying to find ideas for Dina’s 7th birthday party. I promised her one if she fasted full this year and boy, am I regretting that now. A few reasons: my parents will be going for Haj again this year so I need to do the party either this weekend (too short of a notice) or next weekend. Dina wants a themed birthday party but she hasn’t decided on a theme yet. Actually she did but she came up with a mermaid concept and I was like “I am NOT going to put a swimming pool in front of the house for you and your friends to flop around in.” She doesn’t want a Princess Party just because we already did that for Dania’s birthday 3 years back.
So, I’ve been surfing around and bugging Min for ideas. So far, I have the following options: 1) A Pirate Party 2) A Sports Party 3) A Magic Party (ala Harry Potter). Other ideas that were thrown out were 1) Superheroes Party coz surprisingly there aren’t as many female superheroes as much as male ones, plus the ones I thought of were way too sexy (Catwoman / Wonderwoman) 2)Avatar/Smurfs party because eventhough I love blue, I don’t to have my guests paint themselves blue! Plus Avatar sucks!! That’s right, I went there!! I don’t care if some people think that there are real Navi people out there or that Pandora is real…Avatar is all graphics and no storyline. Eat that, James Cameron!!
OK, anyway, back to the party. So yeah, I have 3 choices which are relatively easy for the guest to dress up for and for me to arrange some simple games and prizes for the kids. I intend to make it small, just have Dina invite her classmates. I have school, people!! Weekends are for catching up on sleep.
I’m still open for ideas on the party though..so if anyone has any, please share!

Saturday, July 23, 2011

Sports Day

Last weekend, Dania and Dina had their school's Sports Day. Unfortunately for them, they both were unable to qualify for any individual events.

"Memula Kakngah masuk 70m, dapat #4, lepas tu 100m, dapat #5."


"Berapa orang lari sesama?"


"Lima."

Alahai...nevermind la my girls. I was never much of a runner myself (still not!). I was more into team sports like netball, basketball, badminton and volleyball (though I sucked at that...heehe).

The Sports Day was held on a Saturday for those in Std. 1 - 3 and on Sunday for those in Std. 4 -6. I think it made sense to break up the classes like that because, really none of the parents wanted to stay beyond 12pm.

Initially, I had planned to just drop off the girls at school then head back to catch up on my sleep. In the end, I ended up staying until the whole thing finished, which was around 1130am.

I missed seeing Dina participate in her event because the teachers had initially set up the games near the student tents, instead of the parents' tents. Plus, Dina had told me she was in the beanbag event, when actually she was in the drag-the-ball-using-hulahoop event. I had only realized she had finished when later on she came up to me, showing the medal she got.

"Wah, you got a medal! For what place?"

"Fourth!"

Alahai...nevermind. At least you had fun.

Dania participated in the "big shoes" event (terompah besar). Luckily I was able to spot her out from among the crowd. She was just about to start when I saw her and sprinted across the field to take her picture.
Her team was the first to go. I think there were like 3 teams of 3 and the last person had to run to the finish line with the ball. Dania's team showed great teamwork and they were the first team to reach the 1st checkpoint.

Excuse the excited voice in the foreground. Just another mom being in the moment for her child.

Unfortunately, they fumbled on the transition part and fell behind. In the end, they got fourth by a slight margin.

Eventhough they didn't get first place (or second or third..hehe), the important thing is they learned the concept of teamwork and had fun in the process.

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

A Lot To Write About

1. My new nephew, Shayen Iman.
2. The girls' sports day.
3. Outing to i-City.

I shall find the time....soon.

Saturday, July 09, 2011

Report Cards

Today En Rashid and I went to pick up the girls' report cards at the Kafa school. Luckily Dania reminded me, if not we would have both forgotten.

We headed there around 1030am. In the newsletter, it said to be at the school from 800 - 1100. Hmm..as always, last minute.

We met up with Dina's teacher first. Alhamdulillah, my not-so-little girl is doing well. She got 100 for a few subjects while the rest were over 90. Overall, she got #3 in class. Her teacher said her quran recital was fine, just needed to practise more.

It was, unfortunately, a different story with Dania. If during her 1st semester, she got #1, this time she got #6. The worst part is, her marks for all her subjects had declined dramatically. Some from 100 to 75! Even her teacher mentioned, that Dania liked to play around in class nowadays and at times failed to pay attention.

I'm disappointed. Only because I know my daughter can do better. Even her Sek. Keb. results had declined (from #3 to #11).

I don't blame her 100% though. As a parent, I know I can play a bigger role when it comes to my children's education. It's not just enough sending them to school and making sure they do their homework. I should take advantage of the fact I have no classes until September and sit down with them as they do their work. Make sure they really understand. Make sure they do enough exercises.

I know some moms out there will tell me to chill out. Getting a B is not the end of the work. That's not the point. If I know Dania had worked really hard but still got a B, I would have been proud of her. The fact of the matter is, she hasn't been studying much and it has shown. She's been watching way too much TV, spending way too much time reading story books instead revision.

Their next exams are in August. I hope Dania works harder (and I hope I can be there for her more) and gets better results.

Friday, June 24, 2011

When The Big Cat's Away....

..the little mice conquer the bed!!

Sabar je la...ibu nak tido mana? Haiii...sleep tight, my sleeping princesses.